Mary Voorhees Meehan

Lord Howe Island

  • Leah Beeferman and Matthew Harvey drew us—artists Erica Ehrenberg, Alexandria McCrosky, Sara Magenheimer, Mary Voorhees Meehan, Derek Larson—together to make something. The project was instigated by a piece of text provisioned by Beeferman and Harvey: a scene from Rhinoceros, a play by Eugene Ionesco. We were separated by space and time, convening on Skype to talk about the text and to plan a way of working together.
  • We were very interested in time as a way to unify our geographically distant efforts. We thought about inserting ourselves within a specific time zone as a way of coordinating our work (and maybe also co-opting participants). A little research revealed that the least inhabited time zone is +10.5 which is solely comprised of a single island: Lord Howe.
  • For use as a nap sack,du-rag, or kerchief
  • The island bird, the White Gallinule, as it has evolved from the 1788 drawing made by Arthur Bowes Smyth, a surgeon aboard a ship that visited the island. (Now extinct, it is one of many island species known only by amateur drawings made by visitors to the island hundreds of years ago.)

    These drawings of the island bird were made consecutively, the first based on Arthur Bowes Smyth's original, the second based on the first, etc.
  • The details of this island's history, discovery, native species, and governance were so captivating, we imagined ourselves there. Each artist contributed elements to create a promotional video and official island website. We sent a little slice of island life to New Shelter Plan in Copenhagen.
  • I worked to create a graphic identity, island flag, and various lifestyle goods. I am still turning up bits of island paraphernalia, tucked away here and there. It's like when you get back from the beach and you keep finding sand in odd places.
  • A towel that is also a flag